DONT KNOCK THE THOMPSON VISE..I HAVE SOME MULTI -HUNDRED DOLLAR VISE LAYING TO THE SIDE AS I PREFER THE THOMPSON OVER THE "NEW ONES". Sorry about the caps.

as for the bucket list of Sandman:"My ultimate goal is to reload some shotgun shells, shoot a turkey, tie a fly with said turkey, catch some fish and repeat"…well I've done that with ducks, huns, grouse, turkeys, and some other game birds….but the best stuff comes from the drag pit at the cock fights and the road kills IMO……at least thats the rumor

Not sure if amateur fly tying is economically justifiable but, one thing's for sure I can sure let my imagination run wild. I find tying your own to be more convienient than buying flies. I'm not limited by size or color or material. Plus you can tweak existing patterns. A lot of patterns i've created have been great fish catchers. In some areas a local hot pattern is not sold in local fly shops.
To me it's always better to tie your own.

It's a heckuva lot cheaper than marriage & kids though. When i fiest got started, thought i had to tie everything in the book, didn't catch a fish on half of them
If you learn the basic patterns to fish in the area you fish, buy decent tools & materials, it can be cheaper in the long run.. Most materials can be used on numerous patterns.If you approach someone on a tailwater & they're wearing the fish out, they say they tied a Zebra midge, off you go to the flyshop & buy the flies. The million dollar question, did this person's Zebra look like the one in the shop The cool thing other than catching fish on a fly you tied, you can change the original pattern by adding or taking away(which is cheaper) materials.

Hook prices rose after the Tsunami a few years back, Thailand doubled their mininum wage recently, look for higher prices coming next year for the companies based there that supply the largest wholesalers.

Yes, i still have my Model A Thompson & use it regularly on larger flies. My Cuda is the go to for trout flies. A new one is in the $400 range, i've had it for 15 years @ $400, you can figure $26 a year, or gas money that it would take me to drive to a flyshop each trip, unless you order your flies by mail from LRO.

No offense to anyone, i think it's cheaper to tie, heckuva lot more rewarding on those rainy days when i can't get out on a $40,000 tractor to do farm chores where a tank of fuel cost more than a good vise

It's a heckuva lot cheaper than marriage & kids though. When i fiest got started, thought i had to tie everything in the book, didn't catch a fish on half of them
If you learn the basic patterns to fish in the area you fish, buy decent tools & materials, it can be cheaper in the long run.. Most materials can be used on numerous patterns.If you approach someone on a tailwater & they're wearing the fish out, they say they tied a Zebra midge, off you go to the flyshop & buy the flies. The million dollar question, did this person's Zebra look like the one in the shop The cool thing other than catching fish on a fly you tied, you can change the original pattern by adding or taking away(which is cheaper) materials.

Hook prices rose after the Tsunami a few years back, Thailand doubled their mininum wage recently, look for higher prices coming next year for the companies based there that supply the largest wholesalers.

Yes, i still have my Model A Thompson & use it regularly on larger flies. My Cuda is the go to for trout flies. A new one is in the $400 range, i've had it for 15 years @ $400, you can figure $26 a year, or gas money that it would take me to drive to a flyshop each trip, unless you order your flies by mail from LRO.

No offense to anyone, i think it's cheaper to tie, heckuva lot more rewarding on those rainy days when i can't get out on a $40,000 tractor to do farm chores where a tank of fuel cost more than a good vise